With the opening of Carolina Panther training camp this week, a number of important questions will be answered soon.

Of course, chief among these is the situation at quarterback. Matt Moore goes into training camp as the starter, with Hunter Cantwell backing him up and newly signed Jimmy Clausen in the third-string slot for now.

Clausen’s arrival on Thursday of this week, from all indications, was decidedly low-key — much more so than his arrival at Notre Dame a few years back, when he rolled into South Bend in a stretch Hummer limo.

Partly because of stunts like that, and a general sense of cockiness/arrogance that I always felt went way beyond the garden-variety swagger required of a quarterback, I’ve never been a big Clausen fan.

Clausen this week apparently even displayed a bit of humility. Of course, it’s somewhat easy to do that when you arrive in Spartanburg, S.C. as a second-round draftee and third-string quarterback, as opposed to coming to South Bend as the perceived savior of a once-proud football program that hasn’t really done diddly-squat for eons.

Nobody is going to expect Clausen to be the Panthers’ savior any time soon, and that’s a good thing.

He’ll have time to study film, learn, become a sponge, absorbing all the NFL knowledge that will no doubt be thrown at him in the weeks ahead.

And since I’m guessing he doesn’t have to worry about such inconveniences as making the team, he can place his focus where it belongs, which is adjusting to the higher-speed game in the NFL.

Judging from Thursday’s first practice session, there’s going to be a learning curve for Clausen. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

The franchise is in Matt Moore’s capable hands for now. Moore clearly showed he deserved a shot to drive the bus full-time with his performance at the end of last season.

Clausen can carry the clipboard, watch, and learn.

But I think it’s pretty obvious that Clausen was drafted as the quarterback of the future, and unless Moore sets the world on fire this season, I’d think his days as the Panthers’ starter are already somewhat numbered.

Elsewhere in camp, it will be interesting to see how Appalachian State’s Armanti Edwards adapts to his new role as a receiver.

That will be fun to watch, and I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of an offensive spark Edwards can provide, whether it’s receiving, returning kicks, or maybe running a play or two out of the Wildcat formation.

And of course, someone needs to step up and replace the departed Julius Peppers, who left quite a void on the Panthers’ defensive line.

This will be a year of uncertainty in the NFL, with the sword of Damocles of a work stoppage 2011 casting a pall over the season.

But for better or worse, football is back, and the Panthers can put on the pads, get after it, and start to answer some of these burning questions.

All in good time.

Contact sports editor David Vantress at 997-3111, ext. 14 or via email at dvantress@yourdailyjournal.com